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The salience of cancer and the "survivor" identity for people who have completed acute cancer treatment: a qualitative study
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

The salience of cancer and the "survivor" identity for people who have completed acute cancer treatment: a qualitative study

Katherine Clegg Smith, Ann C Klassen, Kisha I Coa and Susan M Hannum
Journal of cancer survivorship, v 10(3), pp 457-466
Jun 2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-015-0489-0
PMID: 26462498
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://europepmc.org/articles/pmc4833692View
Accepted (AM)Open Access (License Unspecified),  Open

Abstract

Adult Aged Female Humans Male Middle Aged Neoplasms - psychology Neoplasms - rehabilitation Neoplasms - therapy Patient-Centered Care Qualitative Research Self Concept Survival Rate Survivors - psychology
Globally, there are nearly 33 million persons who have survived 5 or more years after a diagnosis of cancer [1]. We explore the salience of cancer in such people's self-concept as an important element for creating patient-centered care for those living with a cancer history. Our data are responses to a free-listing exercise and subsequent qualitative interviews with 53 individuals aged between 45 and 74 who were diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or breast or prostate cancer at least 3 years prior and had completed acute treatment. Participants lived in the Baltimore-Washington region of the USA. Cancer was not necessarily salient to participants' current self-concept, and espousal of a "survivor" identity is complex. We construct a typology of seven contrasting meanings of "survivor" based upon participants' narratives (factual, beaten, functional, temporary, adversity, passage of time, and lucky or blessed) and present interviewees' rationales as to why they did or did not adopt a survivorship identity. We examine the complexity of "survivorship" as an identity and people's affiliation with it, as well as how this relates to other salient and fluid elements of people's sense of self within a life course perspective. Understanding how cancer factors into people's self-concept throughout the life course is important for designing effective, patient-centered programs that acknowledge diverse experiences and expectations and possible changes with the passage of time.

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5 Record Views
30 citations in Web of Science
25 citations in Scopus

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Oncology
Social Sciences, Biomedical
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